Evangelicalism

Evangelicalism is a worldwide movement within Protestant Christianity that maintains the belief that advocates a personal experience of conversion, a biblically oriented faith, and a belief in the importance of Christian faith to cultural issues. Evangelicals believe in the "born-again Christian" experience, which they believes grants salvation to those who take part in it, and they are known to take the Bible literally. Evangelicals belong to the conservative branch of Protestantism, as opposed to the liberal Mainline Protestant denominations (Methodism, Lutheranism, Episcopalianism, the Quakers, and others), and they are based in the Bible Belt of the American South, where they are politically important as the most powerful faction of the Christian right. Most Evangelicals are affiliated with the Religious Right Republicans, a faction of the Republican Party that is known for its rabid social conservatism (homophobia, Islamophobia, and other bigoted views) and its hostility towards secular culture and non-Christian religions (especially Islam), with Catholicism also being a major target. They support a "Christian America" in which Christianity is given a privileged position in the country, support school prayer, support creationism and the myth that the Earth is only 6-10,000 years old, vehemently oppose abortion, oppose premarital sex, and oppose homosexuality.